Cornwall Council has won multiple awards for its well-kept beaches, it is revealed as an environmental charity announces the best beaches of 2017.

Keep Britain Tidy has named the country’s best beaches with the announcement of its Blue Flag and Seaside Awards winners for this year.

The results mean that more than a third of bathing beaches in England will be flying a flag that marks them out as the best in the country.

The awards are the quality marks for the UK’s beaches. They tell visitors the area is clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well as international bathing water quality standards.

This year’s biggest winners include Cornwall Council, which won 20 awards, Torbay Council which won 13 awards, and Thanet District Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council which both received ten awards.

This year, for the first time, a beach owned by a bar has received a Blue Flag.

Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: ‘It is great news for holiday-makers, overseas visitors and businesses that rely on coastal tourism that we have been able to award so many flags this year.

‘The success of our beaches in reaching the very high standards demanded by both awards is testament to all those who have worked so hard to protect and improve our beaches – from beach managers to local people and businesses.

‘When you enjoy a day on the beach flying a Blue Flag or Seaside Award, you know you are on one of the safest, cleanest and very best in the country.’